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Arthur Ashe, Jr. |
(CREDITS: Reprint and photos courtesy of Richmond Free Press)
Three days of celebrating Arthur Ashe Jr.
Next week, Richmond’s focus will be on honoring the late hometown tennis star and humanitarian.
The celebration that starts on Thursday, June 20, will be capped at 11 a.m. Saturday, June 22, with the ceremonial unveiling of new street signs for Arthur Ashe Boulevard between Westwood Avenue, the Arthur Ashe Center and the once whites-only Byrd Park tennis courts from which Mr. Ashe was turned away as a youth.
Thousands of people are expected to turn out for the main event as the Ashe family joins elected officials and a host of others to celebrate the renaming of the 2.5-mile street long known now as The Boulevard.
Georgia Congressman John R. Lewis, a civil rights icon, is to deliver the keynote address at the event that will take place at the Virginia Museum of History & Culture, 428 Arthur Ashe Blvd.
“Arthur Ashe is one of Richmond’s true champions,” Mayor Levar M. Stoney stated.
Along with reaching the pinnacle of the sport with three grand slam wins, Mr. Ashe was a “champion for equality and social justice who is more than worthy of this honor,” the mayor noted.
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